GLAAD study: Gay depictions slip on network TV

This undated photo released by ABC Family shows, from left, Maia Mitchell, as Callie, Sherri Saum, as Lena Adams, and Teri Polo as Stef Foster in the TV series "The Fosters," airing Mondays, 9:00 - 10:00 P.m. ET/PT. Foster is a dedicated police officer, and her partner, Adams, a school Vice Principal. The media advocacy group GLAAD released its annual study Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, of the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters on TV. (AP Photo/ABC Family, Adam Taylor)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fewer gay and bisexual characters are part of the new broadcast TV season following a record-setting year, while cable depictions continued to increase, according to a new study from a media advocacy group.

Numbers are one thing, content is another, said GLAAD spokesman Wilson Cruz.

"Last season was a stellar one when it comes to the sheer number of gay, lesbian and bisexual representations on television, though diversity within those storylines showed room for improvement," Cruz said in a release.

Despite the decline this season, characters such as an interracial lesbian couple raising their children on ABC Family's "The Fosters" have "not only moved the conversation about LGBT people forward" but are popular with viewers, he said.

This undated photo released by ABC Family shows, Sherri Saum, left, as Lena Adams, a school Vice Principal, and her partner, Teri Polo as Stef Foster, a dedicated police officer, in the TV series "The Fosters," airing Mondays, 9:00 - 10:00 P.m. ET/PT. The media advocacy group GLAAD released its annual study Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, of the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters on TV. (AP Photo/ABC Family, Adam Taylor)

There are 46 LGBT regular and recurring characters on broadcast, with half of them women and 28 percent ethnic minorities, GLAAD said. One transgender character, Unique, is on Fox's "Glee."

Two networks, ABC and Fox, showed increases this year and had the highest proportions of LGBT characters with 5.4 percent each, the study found. The CW's 3 percent put it in third place, followed by CBS with 1.9 percent and NBC with 1 percent.

On cable, scripted programs include 42 regularly seen LGBT characters, up from last season's 35.

HBO has the most LGBT characters with 11, followed by Showtime with eight.

Looking more broadly at broadcast TV diversity, the GLAAD study found a small decline in the percentage of female characters to 43 percent from 45 percent. Minority characters remained at 23 percent, with 1 percent of regular characters having a disability.

In a post-season assessment for the 2012-13 lineup, Fox was found to be the most inclusive broadcaster with LBGT images in 42 percent of its prime-time programming hours, while ABC Family was the front-runner on cable with LBGT images in 50 percent of its original programming.

The cable channel History lacked any LGBT images last season, GLAAD said.